Jefferson Davis to Congress of the Confederate States

Richmond, February 25, 1862

In obedience to the Constitutional
provision requiring the President from time to time to give to the
Congress information of the State of the Confederacy, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient, I have to communicate that since my message at the last
session of the Provisional Congress, events have demonstrated that the
Government had attempted more than it had power successfully to achieve.

Hence, in the effort to protect by our arms the whole of the
territory of the Confederate States, Sea-board and inland, we have been
so exposed as recently to encounter serious disasters. When the
Confederacy was formed, the States composing it were, by the peculiar
character of their pursuits and a misplaced confidence in their former
associates, to a great extent destitute of the means for the prosecution
of the war on so gigantic a scale as that which it has attained. The
workshops and artisans were mainly to be found in the Northern States,
and one of the first duties which devolved upon this Government was to
establish the necessary manufactories, and in the meantime, to obtain by
purchase from abroad, as far as practicable whatever was required for
the public defence. No effort has been spared to effect both these ends,
and though the results have not equalled our hopes, it is believed that
an impartial judgment will, upon full investigation, award to the
various departments of the Government credit for having done all which
human power and foresight enabled them to accomplish. The valor and
devotion of the people have not only sustained the efforts of the
Government, but have gone far to supply its deficiencies.

The active state of military preparation among the nations of Europe
in April last, the date when our agents first went abroad, interposed
unavoidable delays in the procurement of arms, and the want of a navy
has greatly impeded our efforts to import military supplies of all
sorts.

I have hoped for several days to receive official reports in relation
to our discomfiture at Roanoke Island, and the fall of Fort Donelson.
They have not yet reached me, and I am, therefore, unable to communicate
to you such information of those events and the consequences resulting
from them, as would enable me to make recommendations founded upon the
changed condition which they have produced. Enough is known of the
surrender at Roanoke Island to make us feel that it was deeply
humiliating, however imperfect may have been the preparations for
defence. The hope is still entertained that our reported losses at Fort
Donelson have been greatly exaggerated, inasmuch as I am not only
unwilling but unable to believe that a large army of our people have
surrendered without a desperate effort to cut their way through
investing forces, whatever may have been their numbers, and to endeavor
to make a junction with other divisions of the Army. But in the absence,
of that exact information which can only be afforded by official
reports, it would be premature to pass judgment, and my own is reserved,
as I trust yours will be, until that information is received. In the
meantime, Strenuous efforts have been made to throw forward
reenforcements to the Armies at the positions threatened, and I cannot
doubt that the bitter disappointments we have borne, by nerving the
people to still greater exertions, will speedily secure results more
accordant with our just expectation, and as favorable to our cause as
those which marked the earlier periods of the War.

The reports of the Secretaries of War and the Navy will exhibit the
mass of resources for the conduct of the War which we have been enabled
to accumulate notwithstanding the very serious difficulties against
which we have contended.

They afford the cheering hope that our resources, limited as they
were at the beginning of the contest, will, during its progress, become
developed to such an extent as fully to meet our future wants

The policy of enlistment for short terms against which I have
steadily contended from the commencement of the war has, in my judgment,
contributed in no immaterial degree to the recent reverses which we
have suffered, and even now renders it difficult to furnish you an
accurate statement of the Army. When the War first broke out many of our
people could with difficulty be persuaded that it would be long or
serious. It was not deemed possible that anything so insane as a
persistent attempt to subjugate these States could be made- still less
that the delusion would so far prevail as to give to the war the vast
proportions which it has assumed. The people, incredulous of a long War,
were naturally averse to long enlistments, and the early legislation of
Congress rendered it impracticable to obtain Volunteers for a greater
period than twelve months. Now that it has become probable that the war
will be continued through a series of years, our high-spirited and
gallant soldiers, while generally re-enlisting, are, from the fact of
having entered the service for a short term, compelled in many instances
to go home to make the necessary arrangements for their families during
their prolonged absence.

The quotas of new regiments for the war, called for from the
different States, are in rapid progress of organization. The whole body
of new levies and re-enlisted men will probably be ready in the ranks
within the next thirty days. But, in the meantime, it is exceedingly
difficult to give an accurate statement of the number of our forces in
the field. They may, in general terms, be stated at 400 regiments of
infantry, with a proportionate force of Cavalry and artillery, the
details of which will be shown by the report of the Secretary of War. I
deem it proper to advert to the fact that the process of furloughs and
re-enlistment in progress for the last month had so far disorganized and
weakened our forces as to impair our ability for successful defence;
but I heartily congratulate you that this evil, which I had foreseen and
was powerless to prevent, may now be said to be /substantially/ at an
end, and that we shall not again during the war be exposed to seeing our
strength diminished by this fruitful cause of disaster -- short
enlistments.

The people of the Confederate States being principally engaged in
agricultural pursuits, were unprovided at the commencement of
hostilities with ships, ship-yards, materials for shipbuilding, or
skilled mechanics and seamen in sufficient numbers to make the prompt
creation of a navy a practicable task even if the required
appropriations had been made for the purpose. Notwithstanding our very
limited resources, however, the report of the Secretary will exhibit to
you a satisfactory progress in preparation, and a certainty of early
completion of vessels of a number and class on which we may confidently
rely for contesting the vaunted control of the enemy over our waters.

The financial system devised by the wisdom of your predecessors has
proved adequate to supplying all the wants of the Government
notwithstanding the unexpected and very large increase of expenditures
resulting from the great augmentation in the necessary means of defence.
The report of the Secretary of the Treasury will exhibit the gratifying
fact that we have no floating debt; that the credit of the Government
is unimpaired, and that the total expenditure of the Government for the
year has been in round numbers one hundred and seventy millions of
dollars; less than one-third of the sum wasted by the enemy in his vain
effort to conquer us - less than the value of a single article of
export--the cotton crop of the year.

The report of the Post Master General will show the condition of that
department to be steadily improving - its revenues increasing, and
already affording the assurance that it will be selfsustaining at the
date required by the Constitution while affording ample mail facilities
for the <-[illegible] of the-> people.

In the Department of Justice, which includes the Patent Office and
Public Printing, some legislative provisions will be required, which
will be specifically stated in the report of the head of that
Department. I invite the attention of Congress to the duty of organizing
a Supreme Court of the Confederate States; in accordance with the
mandate of the Constitution.

I refer you to my message communicated to the Provisional Congress in
November last for such further information touching the condition of
public affairs as it might be useful to lay before you; the short
interval which has since elapsed not having produced any material
changes in that condition other than those to which reference has
already been made.

In conclusion, I cordially welcome Representatives who, recently
chosen by the people, are fully imbued with their views and feelings,
and can so ably advise me as to the needful provisions for the public
service. I assure you of my hearty cooperation in all your efforts for
the common welfare of the country

Jefferson Davis

From The Papers of Jefferson Davis, Volume 8, pp. 58-64. Transcribed from a signed copy in the National Archives, RG109, Documents in the Official Records, Series 4, Volume 1, pp. 950-52.